Method of handling slate



Nov. '10, 192s. 1

' l Y N. A.V NEWDiICK METHOD' OF HANDLING` SLATE Filed Sept. 6

` Raaf am: @nu

Patented Nov. 10, 1925-.

UNITED i STATES llwxrEliTv OFFICE.

NORTON A. NEWDICK, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR 'IOV THE CO-IODER COMPANY,`

COLUMBUS, 01110 A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE. I

' METHOD or HANDLING smi'iii.

Application led September 6,1923. Serial No. 661,303.

T0 all whom, t may concern.'

Be it known that I, NORTON A. NiiwDioK, a citizen of the United States, residing in Columbus, in the county of Franklin, State ofGhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Handling Slate, of which the following is a specifica tion.

This invention relates to an improved method for facilitating the mining of coal in underground mines, and the general object of the invention is the provision of a system whereby the roof slate, commonly encountered in coal mines, may be economically and rapidly removed from the region of a 'working face following the usual step of disrupting V'the coal vein to produce the desired free pile of gatherablev coal.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a method for mining coal which consists in removing the slate from the coal pile in the same condition and 'size as it falls from the roof, or in other words, withoutpreliminary reduction or breakage theref' of on the coal pile, so that the coal pile will contain but a minimum of shattered slate particles, and the slate removed to desired places of deposit conveniently and economically and with but a minimum ofv manual labor, and. with far greater rapidity and 4lthoroughness than has been attained through and employment of any prior system' vof which I am aware.

,In thel accompanying drawing there has been diagrammatically disclosed the various steps employed in practicing Vmy improved method and'also the apparatus used in connection therewith. In Vsaid drawing:

Figure l discloses a vertical sectionalv view taken through the room of a coal mine, illustrating the 'manner of preparing the coal vein prior to the operation of blasting or shooting the vein to produce a gatherable pile of coal. x Vi 'i Figure 2 is a similar view disclosing Vthe coal vein following the blastingor shooting operation, showing the free pile of coal and the overhead unsupported stratum of draw slate.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the draw slate deposited onthe top of the coal pile, after the slate has been broken loose from its natural state of adherence to the mine roof, and further illustrating a portable crane, usedin .carrying out the invention, in the operation of dragging or l drawing the slate down upon the mine floor at the base of the coal pile.

Figure 4 is a similar view vshowing-'the portable crane elevating or raising a. slate ,slab and, in dotted lines, in a position permitting the'deposit of the slate at a desired.

place o-f discharge.

' Most bituminous coal found in level, horizontally extending beds or veins` of 'varying thickness, commonly rangingfrom four to ten feet, and `in the extraction of this coal from its natural state it is the commo-n practice to use the so-called room and pillar system of mining,whichl-consists-in driving rooms' or corridors thru the coal and then in attacking the vblocks of coal,

termed pillars, existingy between the spaced rooms orrcorridors. As shown yin the draw ings, the numeral 1 designates vthe roomfof amine, the numeral 2 the coal vein, 3 represents thereof of the mine and the floor is designated byI the numerall 4. In reducf ing the solid coal 'veinto a gatherable condition i't is customary to blast down aportion thereof along the working face 5, `and this isyaccomplished by producing one 'or more horizontally extending kerfs 6 in the face of thec'oal, which kerfs extend back from'tlie face -into the body of the coal a 'distance varying from five to tenV feet.` Cutting machinesl of common construction' are used in producingthese kerfs. f The latter maybe situated 'either -adj acent the floor ,4,

fshown Figure 1,3"or 'at 'anyr other desired position in: thethickness V'of the coalvein. In addition 'to theikerfs 6, the coal face is drilled to produce shot holes,l lin wliich'is r suitably placed and tamped a suitable charge of an expl'osive which, upon explosion or combustion, produces pressures or forces which disrupt the coal and reduce the same Qin Figures@ and; This massof coal contains lumps of suchsize as to permit the loading yof the coal into lsuitable carsl or carriers, eitherlby manual or machine operations. kMyV system, however, is preferably 'used in connection with mechanical loading machine and is especially fitted therefor.

The floor andthe lroof consist of solid,

substantial, Vhomogeneous slate.'` layers or tothe shattered massor pile indicated at y diately above thecoal vein and=beneath the sev slate strata constituting the roofof themine, a comparatively thin stratum of slate, commonly known as draw slate, and which does( lnot possess the homogeneous qualitiesy which characterize the slate constituting the roof and the floor. The draw sla-te variesv in thickness but frequently averages between six and eighteen inc-hes: Following; the shooting of the pileV this slate either falls. on the top efthe coal pile.: or insecurely'clings 'toithearoofof the, mine, as shown in .Figure rtoy remove these slate lumps or sla-bs by hand. This'isasflow, .laborious and tedious operation because ofthe labor involvedimaterially. effects-the costv of mining` coal. In this operation it has been customary, either by. the use of; sledge hammers or; small charges of explosives, to reduce these slate luIDPfSeto relativel57 Small diinensionsa while the'same are depositedonV the coal pile, thus makingthenrmoref readily adaptablei-vto b'e lifted In'arniallyand` moved .to desired points ofideposit. Howeyer, bybreakingthe Slate up in this manner the Small. f-ragmeets .there of become -intermingled--with the; main body Off. @Calf producing fnregn Substancesfnthe coalwhicl materially effectlitsquality and rating, and by,v expelisive Processes retrieved from the-.coat before the latterf ready` for Commercial use:

T Qbviatetllis, the nrsentinrenton Cen- SieteL in usinev Slate. machine. 115 which .is in thenature of av portable crane., as has been set forth and: Yclaimedin detail iny my copending application filed May 22, 1922, Serial Number 562,803.. Thelnechanical 1details of'this inachine'may, for present purposes, be described'as consistingofaportable body112, adapted to travel over a trackway 13, provided intherooin 1, Arising from the base 12 is a horizontally turning colu1nn14,- vupon which is .pivoted as -f at 15, the boom; l'ofthe crane. The outer end .of the boom 16 is providedwith a pulley or slieave 1 7 aroundwhich is'. trained Ia cable or chain: 18, the. sai d cable bein-g; guidedfover the top. of the, column, 14: by the shoe-19, andfits;A inner.. end is engaged with a drum or windlassg20, which. isdriven by amotor 21, the. said l windlass controlli-ngfthe. efective length ofthe ,cable. Thebooinl vmay be. supported; byzmeans of a shelf 22 formed with. and projecting horizontally from the column 14. This construction permit-s the boom to be moved in a vertical plane about its pivot 15, and also. to turn in a horizontal plane by `rotating bodily with the column 14.

As shown in Figure 3, the outer end of the-cable 18 vhas connected therewith a pair of tongs V23, which is arrangedto grip the slate sla-losa andv draw the same downwardly from their position upon the coal pile to the floor 4 atv the base of the'pile, with the slabs in the same. conditionas they are when they fall from. the roof'of the mine. In other words, my method involves no preliminary reduction'in size of the slate slabs before being removed from the coal pile, or more positively. stat-ed, the slate slabs are handled in bulk and in the same size and condition as when-theyy fallfrom the mine roof. This is truev even. though the slabs may weigh several tons each, although, of course, such an extreme weight is rather an unusual condition. Following the drawing of the slateslabs in their original size down to -the base of the coalpile, the outerend of the cable 18' has connected therewith a plurality ofhooks 24, preferably. three in number and connected by chains 25,with an eye 2 6 provided upontheouter end `of the cable 18. This grapple arrangement enables the slate slabs, regardless of their irregular contour, to be readily engaged with said cable and lifted. or. elevated as the. inner end ofthe cable is wound about the drum 20.. When the slate. slabs have been lifted from the ioonthe machine 1 1 maybe moved longitudinally u-pon the tracl; way any suitable'fdistance, carryingv the, slatev4 slabs with it and, as shownin Figure 4, theseslabsmay then be` stacked or placed inl neatlyy arr anged piles 27 toeachor'either side ofthe room 1 and the..trackway 13 therein, where the slate particles may be out of theway of rolling stock; moving in and out of theroQmover the. traclrway 13 andto other positions remote .from the pile 9. In certain mines ,itis the custom to remove the slate entirely from the mines, inwhich eventthel machine 11 may be used toposition the slate7 slabs in the. ycars used in transporting the slate from place to place. This-.operation may be carried out with the slateV slabs in their original shape Aand COI-.lditon .asfr when 1 the same fell from the roof, without breakage or-reduction ,in size ofy any kind.`

That ist claimed is:

1. Themethodof miningcoal which con-- sists in disruptingy the natural coal vein.

along a. working face, to produce the free p ilevo-f gatherable. coal, in removing from the roof Y'of' the mine voversaid-coal pile, the clinging' stratum of'drawslatet which adheres toy the yrnine roof following-1 thedisrupting of,` theroa-lgvein, peivmitting said .slate ;tol dropdown anidjdeposit itself on .the

and in removing the slate from the coal pile in the same condition as it falls, With-- out preliminary reduction or breakage therey of on the coal pile.

2. The method of mining coal, which consists in shooting or releasing the coal from its natural state to create the desired free pile of coal, releasing the overhead roof slate in the region of the p-ile, causing the deposited slate slabs or pieces to ride over the pile to a base positionl Without preliminary reduction or breakage thereof on the coal pile, and in removing the slabs or pieces bodily from said base position to a suitable point of deposit.

3.' rlhe method of mining coal Which consists, in disrupting the natural coal vein to produce a free pile of gatherable coal, in

removing from the roof of the mine over said coal pile, the clinging stratum o' draw slate adhering to the mine `roof following the disrupting of thercoal vein, and in removing the slate Jfrom the coal pile in the same condition as it Jfalls.

Il. The method of preparing coal for load ing, which consists in shooting or releasing the coal from its natural state to create the desired free pile of coal, releasing the overhead roof slate in the region of the pile, causing the deposited slate slabs or pieces to ride over the pile to a base position, and in removing the' slate slabs orfpieces from said base posit-ion to a suitable point of deposit.

In testimony whereof, I have .signed my name to this specification.

NORTON A. NEWDICK. 

